Clarinet



G. DE MARCO CLARINET Sept. 5, 1939'.

Filed July 25, 1938 Patented Sept. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to clarinets and more particularly to clarinets of the Boehm type.

It is an object of the present invention toprovide a clarinet of the above mentioned character with means to facilitate the playing of the G sharp note. In playing certain rapid passages, especially in scales, arpeggios, broken chords, etc., the manipulation of the G sharp key becomes very difiicult, especially where a high degree of speed is necessary.

It is an object of the present invention to provide mechanical means obviating these difiiculties. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a clarinet wherein these difliculties are obviated without such alteration of the clarinet as would affect the manipulations in playing music on a standard Boehm type clarinet. The instrument remains as a standard instrument and is played in the standard manner, the only change being the provision of additional means for playing G sharp, which additional means need not be used in playing standard music, since the standard G sharp pad is retained and operated in the usual way, all of the positions on the clarinet remaining the same.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front view of a clarinet embodying the purpose of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l of the upper part of the clarinet taken with the clarinet turned at a substantial angle to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a View similar to- Figure 1 and il- .lustrating the lower part of the clarinet from still a different angle; and

Figures 4 to 11, inclusive, are sectional views taken along the lines 44 to I II I, respectively, of Figures 2 and 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Reference may now be had more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3. The clarinet shown is a standard Boehm clarinet to which my invention has been applied. Insofar as various pads or openings of the clarinet have been omitted, it is to be understood that these are present on the clarinet of the present invention since the present invention comprises additions to, rather than subtractions from the Boehm clarinet. The addition to the Boehm clarinet, by the present invention, comprises the formation of the sound hole I in the body 2 ofthe clarinet, the sound hole being located in position to play the G sharp on the second line of the treble clef when it is open since this sound hole is located radially along the same plane as is the sound hole 3, which is the standard G sharp hole for playing the G sharp on the second line of the treble clef and controlled by a finger pad 4 on a pivoted lever 5. The sound hole I and the mechanism for controlling the closing and opening of the same constitutes the applicants addition to the Boehm clarinet. The mechanism for opening and closing this sound hole is so located with respect to the various keys and other instrumentalities of the Boehm clarinet so as not to interfere in any way with the playing of the clarinet. The opening I is closed by a pad 'I on a lever 8. The lever 8 is mounted on a sleeve 9, being rigid with respect to the sleeve. The sleeve is provided with a light spring I0 which normally urges the Sleeve to turn in a direction counterclockwise, as seen in Figure 4, and thus normally urges the pad I to a position uncovering the hole I. A lever I3 is rigidly secured to the sleeve 9 and extends over and above a finger key I5 which is the octave key. The lever I3 is sufiiciently free of the key I5 to clear the same and never interfere with its operation. A shaft I1 is mounted for rotation on the body of the clarinet and carries a lever I8 rigid therewith, which lever I8 abuts against the inner side of the lever I3 but is mechanically disconnected therefrom. The shaft IT, with its lever I8, is urged for rotation in a direction counter-clockwise, as seen in Figure 4, by a spring I9 which is more powerful than the spring I 0. The spring I9 thus acts upon the lever I8 to urge the lever I3 to move the finger pad 1 into a position closing the opening I, against the action of the spring I0. The spring I9 is made sufiiciently more powerful than the spring In so that with both springs acting at the same time the spring I9 predominates and thus maintains the pad 'I in a position closing the opening I. If the shaft I1 is rotated manually in a clockwise direction the lever I8 will tend to move away from the lever I3 which latter lever therefore follows it under the action of the spring I0 and opens the G sharp hole I. Mechanical arrangements are provided between the shaft I! and each of the other finger keys of the Boehm clarinet, with none or few exceptions, so that the manipulation of almost any key on the clarinet will cause the shaft I! to rotate clockwise and thus permit the spring III to open the G sharp hole I. Other means are provided for locking the pad I in its closed position when other keys are controlled thereby assuring that the G sharp pad will not open. An explanation will first be given of the means for opening the G sharp pad.

The shaft I! has a short projection 23 thereon which is controlled by a lever 22 mounted coaxially with the sleeve 9 but freely rotatable with respect thereto so that the lever 22 is free to swing about the center of the sleeve 9 as an axis. The lever 22 at its right hand end, as seen in Figure 6, may be controlled by a lever 24, standard on the Boehm clarinet, which lever 24 terminates in a finger key 25. Ihe lever 24 controls the first opening immediately below the opening 1 in the standard Boehm clarinet. The adjacent pad controlling levers 21 and 28 of the standard Boehm clarinet do not afiect the lever 22. A shaft 30 is mounted coaxially of the shaft ii and carries a lever 3| which has abutting engagement with a lever 32 on the shaft I! so that the spring 19 of the shaft ll urges the lever 32 in abutting engagement with the lever 3| and thus urges the shaft 30 to rotate in a direction the same as the shaft IT. The shaft 30 carries also a lever 35 which extends over the pad 36 of the Boehm clarinet so that upon movement of this pad to its open position by the key 44 the pad 35 forces the lever 35 to rotate in a direction clockwise, as seen in Figure 8, and thus bring the lever 3| down against the lever 32 and cause the shaft ll to rotate in a direction to free the pad I for movement under the action of the spring Ill. The shaft 30 also carries a lever 3? controlled by the lever 38 pivoted about a stationary axis 39, which lever 38 extends into a position such as to be operated by a projection 43 when any one of the three finger keys 3!, 42 or d3 of the clarinet is operated. It is thus apparent that when any one of the four finger keys ll-44 is operated the shaft 30 will be turned to turn the shaft I! to free the finger pad 7 to move to its open position under the action of the spring 10.

In addition to the above the shaft I1 is further provided with additional means for rotating it to a position to release the pad 7 when the sixth finger key, 48, which is a C sharp or G sharp key, is played. This comprises a lever pivoted about a pin 5!. The pin 5l' carries a projection 52 below the lever 50, which engages a projection 53 on the shaft I? so that when the key 48 is depressed to depress the lever 5|] it causes the shaft H to rotate in a direction clockwise, as seen in Figure 11. a

It is apparent from the above description that when any of the finger keys mentioned above is played the shaft IT is rotated to cause the lever l8 to swing in a direction away from the lever l3 (Figs, 1 and 4) and thus permit the lever 8 to be moved by its spring I'll to uncover the new G sharp opening I provided in my instrument. It is, however, desirable under many circumstances when anyof the above mentioned notes are played that the G sharp opening I should not be open. This is accomplished by providing means to lockthe pad I in its closed position, even though the lever l8 may be released so that the spring |9 does not maintain the opening I closed. This result is accomplished in a simple manner, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 10. A locking latch 60 is pivoted about apivot BI and includes a finger 62 which is adapted to be moved over the pad I under the action of a part 63 of the lever 60, which lever 60 constitutes a lever of the first class. The lever 63 is moved to its lockingposition under manipulation of the finger rings 64 or 65 of the standard clarinet. This is accomplished by reason of the fact that the part 63 of the lever 60 is immediately above a lever 63 on a shaft 69, which lever 68 is operated by the shaft 69 when the finger ring 35 is depressed. In a like manner the finger ring 64 is mounted on a lever 19 having a collar 'Il embracing the pivotal axis about which the lever 13 pivots, which collarll carries a lever 12 which extends under the lever 68. Therefore upon movement of the lever 12 the lever 68 is moved in the same manner that it is moved by operation of the finger ring 35. It is thus apparent that when either of these two finger rings is operated the pad 1 maintains the new G sharp hole I closed regardless of which of the other keys of the clarinet is being played.

From the description thus far given it is apparent that by the present invention any one of a large number of keys on the standard clarinet may be operated to play G sharp or, by operating the finger ring 64 or 65 the operation ofthose keys which would otherwise produce the G sharp note becomes ineffective for that purpose and produces instead the note normally intended for those respective keys. Thus each one of a large number of finger keys on the clarinet may produce their respective tones or the G sharp note, selectively. Therefore the G sharp note can be played with almost any one of the fingers of either hand, depending upon convenience. It is thus apparent that G sharp and G natural may therefore be played in extremely rapid succession, by playing the G natural in the usual manner and playing the G sharp from any one of the other finger notes.

The shafts I! and 30 are made discontinuous, with abutting contact between the levers 3| and 32 because some clarinets are separable into two sections, or parts. When the present invention is applied to such clarinet tubes the line of separation between the two tube parts lies between the shafts I1 and 3D.

While I have shown the present invention applied to a Boehm clarinet, it is within the purview of the present invention to apply the same to clarinets of other types and also to apply the present invention to other wind type instruments such as, for instance, the saxophone, or the like.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is, however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction here shown, tthe same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In. a clarinet, a G sharp pad, a comparatively light spring normally urging that pad to the open position, a heavier spring urging the pad to the closed position, means responsive to the operation of any of said plurality of keys for rendering the second spring ineffective thereby permitting the light spring to open the pad, and means responsive to the closing of any one of a plurality of holes in the clarinet for locking the G sharp pad closed.

2. A clarinet of the Boehm type having an auxiliary pad for the G sharp on the second line of the treble clefi in addition to the corresponding G sharp pad on the Boehm clarinet and in a position free of interference with the operation of 'the keys and finger rings of the clarinet, spring means biasing said auxiliary pad to its closed position, means responsive to the operation of any one of a majority of the clarinet keys for moving the auxiliary pad to its open position, and means responsive to the operation of any one of a number of other clarinet finger operated playing parts for disabling said last named means and holding the auxiliary pad closed.

3. A clarinet of the Boehm type having an auxiliary pad for the G sharp on the second line of the treble clef in addition to the corresponding G sharp pad on the Boehm clarinet and in a position free of interference with the operation of the keys and finger rings of the clarinet, spring means biasing said auxiliary pad to its closed position, means responsive to the operation of any one of a majority of the clarinet keys for moving the auxiliary pad to its open position, and means responsive to the operation of any one of a plurality of finger rings adjacent the G sharp pad for disabling the last named means and holding the auxiliary pad closed.

4. In a clarinet, a G sharp pad, a comparatively light spring normally urging said pad to the open position, a heavier spring, means having abutting engagement with the pad and urged by said heavier spring towards said pad and maintaining the pad closed against the opening action of the light spring, means having engagement with said abutting means and moving the same out of engagement with said pad responsive to the operation of any of a plurality of clarinet keys, thereby rendering said second spring ineffective and permitting opening of the pad by said light spring, and finger operated means for locking the G sharp pad closed only so long as the finger operated means is retained in its operated position.

GENNARO DE MARCO. 

